A black part-time judge is suing the Government for race discrimination, claiming he has been paid less than some of his white colleagues.

Anthony Thake, a Parole Board judge, and a magistrate, says he is paid £135 less than his senior white counterparts for each parole case he hears and claims that after hearing 189 cases in the past two years the Government has underpaid him £25,582.50.

Mr Thake is the only black judge authorised to chair parole hearings for dangerous prisoners.

'Discrimination':Parole Board judge and magistrate Anthony Thake claims that some of his white colleagues are getting £135 more per case

Of the 77 professionals who do similar work, 39 are retired white judges and the remaining 38 are white lay judges.

Mr Thake is one of the lay judges who are each paid £448 per hearing compared with £583 for the retired judges.

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Before 2009, both sets of judges were paid the same rate. But because of a backlog of parole cases, Ministers decided they needed to pay higher rates to retired judges to ensure more of them were willing to do the work.

Mr Thake is claiming indirect race discrimination by arguing that, as a black man, it is ‘extremely unlikely’ he would have ever been appointed as a professional judge.

Before 2009, both retired and lay of judges were paid the same rate, but because of a backlog of parole cases, Ministers decided they needed to pay higher rates to retired judges (stock image)

In his employment tribunal claim, he says: ‘I feel that I do not have the same value to this society as a white retired judge.

'To me that feels like a judgment on my ethnic and social background.’

Ministers are defending the claim by arguing that he has no legal qualifications and therefore cannot decide the most serious cases.